Fear of persecution and violence, perhaps even death, casts a dark shadow over Christians in the Middle East. Many of them are imprisoned, detained, beaten, tortured or killed for exhibiting their faith.
A United States congressman is trying to create a special envoy position within the State Department to advocate on behalf of religious minorities in the Middle East as well as South Central Asia.
Frank Wolf, a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia’s 10th district, introduced bipartisan legislation last week, along with Democrat Anna G. Eshoo of California, to create the position. Serving his 17th term in the House, Wolf has been one of Congress’ most outspoken leaders on religious freedom and human rights.
“We need to have an advocate for Christians and other minorities in the Middle East,” Wolf said. “The way things are going I really see in a few years there will be few, if any, Christians left in the Middle East.
“I urge that every Presbyterian pastor who wants to follow God’s Word will speak out, or we may see our Christian communities emptied in the Middle East.”
Wolf pointed to other special envoys – like the Sudan envoy and North Korea Human Rights special envoy – as examples of positions that were created by the State Department in response to a need for attention to be focused on a critical issue.
“We have a strategic and moral imperative to protect and preserve these ancient faith communities, which this administration has failed to do,” Wolf said. “Too often, we in the West have turned a blind eye to the suffering of persecuted people of faith. Having a single, high-level person within the State Department bureaucracy charged with this pivotal task will send an important message to both our own foreign policy establishment and to suffering communities in the Middle East and elsewhere that religious freedom is a priority – that America will be a voice for the voiceless.”
Wolf penned a letter to more than 300 Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox leaders in the western world earlier this month. In it, he asked for them to use their influence to speak out on behalf of persecuted Christians around the world. He indicated the State Department has not done enough to protect these populations, which are decreasing in countries like Iraq, Egypt and Syria.
“I hope the church in the western world thinks this is an important issue and will speak out,” said Wolf, who serves on the House Appropriations Committee and is chairman of the Commerce-Justice-Science Subcommittee. “We need the government of the United States to be an advocate for people of faith who are being persecuted like we used to be. More and more Christians around the world are being persecuted, and their numbers have been diminishing the last several years.”
The bill to create the envoy passed the House of Representatives by a substantial margin of 402-20 more than 18 months ago but was blocked in the Senate, primarily due to opposition from Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry and a refusal to hold a hearing on the legislation.
“We’re looking to have this passed,” Wolf said. “I don’t know what happened in the Senate, and I don’t know if the Obama Administration is even interested in this, but we need to put pressure on the Senate to move this along.”
Wolf and Eshoo said America has an obligation to speak out on behalf of the voiceless minorities in the Middle East.
“Religious tolerance in the region will not be realized as long as the decades of senseless violence they’ve endured goes unanswered,” Eshoo said. “A special envoy would bring renewed hope and awareness, as well as address this crisis as part of America’s foreign policy.”
Wolf noted that silence on the matter or taking no action sends the wrong message to those persecuted daily for living their faith.
“The church in the western world has failed to speak out on this issue,” he said. “I’ve traveled in that region, and the Coptic Christians live in fear. When I speak with them they tell me how grim their lives are. I just think there has been a fundamental failure by all churches in the West to advocate for all Christians persecuted for their faith.”
Calls made and emails sent by The Layman seeking comment from the Presbyterian Church (USA) Office of Public Witness in Washington, D.C. were not returned.